Like a good British day’s weather, it’s been a real mixed bag this week in 4JW.

Mathematics saw the children looking at solving worded problems. Mrs Hilton-Loom had written a mixture of dastardly calculations in disguise which certainly got the class thinking. They started the week by being asked to simply pick out those that involved multiplication. This allowed the children to reinforce the skills that they had developed last week. Then the children moved on to answering all of the questions, however, they had to sort them into the calculations that were used and then answer them as a block. The children finished the week by following a multiplication trail which, by finding the answers, allowed them to discover the secret words that allowed them access to the Factor Fortune.

English saw the beginning of a new book. The children used pictures to ask questions and make predictions about the story before it was revealed. Below are a series of videos which show how Mia and James’ story and thinking developed. Once the story was revealed to be ‘Escape from Pompeii’ the children enjoyed listening to the story. Before spending time mag-pieing interesting and effective setting descriptions from the text.

Friday proved to be a very exciting day as, not only did we complete the mathematics trail, but we also took the beautifully created volcanoes and caused them to erupt. The children had been asked to investigate different ways that we could replicate the eruption. They came back with the idea of using fizzy orange and Mentos, or vinegar and bicarbonate of soda. On further testing we discovered that the Mentos and pop worked brilliantly in a bottle but not in the cups that were the centre of our volcanoes. Therefore, armed with vinegar, bicarbonate of soda and red food colouring the children merrily went about destroying their fabulous art work. Photos and videos of the eruptions can be seen below.

Our attendance was a very disappointing 94%. Second lowest in the school.Our composer of the week was Mia for not giving up and keeping trying even when she was finding the work more difficult.